What Vine and the Better Butter Test Caused


A very lovely lady named Nancy commented on a post I did on the app called Vine not too long ago. The post was a quick view of 5 lotion bars – fresh out of the lab and ready for testing.

Nancy had nearly used up her own favorite lotion bar with her 'must have' ingredient –  lanolin – and her supplier was no longer available.

When she saw I was working on lotion bars, she sprang into action. It wasn't too terribly long before Nancy's lotion bars with lanolin were being packaged and sent.
 

Lanolin - But of Course!

What an excellent idea – adding lanolin to a lotion bar! Lanolin is a great ingredient, but it's also a bit challenging to work with.

On its own, lanolin is a rather sticky substance that feels heavy and waxy. It also has a very distinct scent that many describe as 'the smell of wet wool'.

The good news is, lanolin has several excellent skin-loving properties and is particularly ideal for soothing winter-dry, sensitive, and chapped skin.

Even though the 'wooliness' does have to be taken into account, it is possible to create a scent that will magically remove any association to wet wool without the end product having a heavy base note. I prefer using essential oils to create scents for my products because they double as active ingredients, but fragrance oils are also an option.


Testing Testing

To get the texture just right, a few sample-sized bars with different amounts of lanolin were made and tested.

After the initial tests were done and the texture and feel was perfection, Nancy and I discussed her scent preferences and the final bit of the formula was tweaked to her specifications.

While I was testing her bars, I fell in love with both her ingredients choices and scent preference. I've had one of Nancy's bars on my nightstand ever since I made the first test bar.

My customers really are the best source of inspiration.

Thank you Nancy!

Comments

Boony said…
I LOVE this packaging! I can't wait to try it!

LisaLise said…
Hi Boony - coolness!
Anonymous said…
I love lanolin......I originally started using it when my children were young. The stickiness was perfect for keeping it on their chins to keep them from getting chapped in the cold winters (they all sucked their thumbs) 😉. Over the years I started using it lotions also. I would love to know what else you used, especially scent.
Love all your research.
JNC
LisaLise said…
Hi JNC - What a clever use of lanolin! Love it! You asked what else I used: these bars contain almond oil, a coconut oil derivative (also called 'coco-silicone' - it adds a silky feel), beeswax, mango butter, lanolin and I used a mix of lavender and mint (mentha piperita) for the scent.
Thanks so much for your kind words.